Scott & White Healthcare in Round Rock, Texas is recruiting patients for a Phase III lung cancer trial aimed at preventing the disease's recurrence in previously treated patients. The trial will evaluate the potential of an immunotherapy called Antigen-Specific Cancer Immunotherapeutic (ASCI) for the treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).
The MAGRIT (MAGE-A3 as Adjuvant Non-Small Cell LunG Cancer Immunotherapy) study is expected to be one of the largest Phase III trials ever conducted for NSCLC. Scott & White Healthcare - Round Rock is joining with 400 centers in more than 33 countries worldwide in this clinical research effort.
"The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will enroll patients that demonstrate the MAGE-A3 biomarker and those who are assessed as stage IB, II, or IIIA resectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer," said Laura Beaty, M.D., principal investigator and hematology/oncologist at Scott & White Healthcare - Round Rock. "The ASCI administration will be started in patients after surgery and standard chemotherapy, and in patients who only receive surgery as a standard of care as the primary endpoint of the trial is disease-free survival," she said.
ASCI is an investigational class of cancer immunotherapy agents aimed at educating the patient's immune system to identify cancer cells in a specific manner. This investigational cancer immunotherapy is developed using tumor-specific antigens. "If a patient's cancer is found to express certain proteins/antigens, then the treatment educates their immune system to fight their cancer cells," explained Dr. Beaty.
"This study is a global undertaking and we are looking for patients to consider enrolling," said Dr. Beaty. "To reach our enrolment target of 2,270 patients, we'll need to screen more than 13,000 patients worldwide."
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